Meet the 'real-life superheroes', Phoenix Jones and Purple Reign

By day they are a teacher and an accounts and finance manager, but by night
they are Phoenix Jones and Purple Reign, real-life 'superheroes' who fight
crime on the streets of Seattle.

By Olivia Bolton

6:29PM BST 10 Jul 2013

Clad in masks and brightly-coloured rubber, they might appear to be characters from the pages of a comic book. But two American 'real-life superheroes' have jetted into the UK for the country's first "superpower summit".

The summit in London involves debates on the world of the urban crime-fighter and interactive exhibits for visitors to test their 'special powers'.

But what does being an urban crime-fighter involve and why do the 'real-life superheroes' feel a need to put their lives at risk?

"We are basically a citizen eye witness group. If we see a crime, we run to the victim, see if they want to press charges, at that point we'll go after the bad guy, catch him, and either hold them in position or dial 911 and wait until the cops arrive," Seattle 'superhero' Phoenix Jones says.

"When I see someone being a victim of crime, I'm not just going to watch it," he adds.

His side-kick and wife Purple Reign emphasises that they are definitely not vigilantes and have lawyers who instruct them on how to intervene in a crime legally.

"The police have seen how we are not out there breaking the law or hurting people, we're helping victims and we're capturing video evidence," Purple Reign says.

These videos filmed whilst the team patrol the streets are also viral hits, and clips uploaded onto Phoenix Jones' YouTube channel have topped over 800,000 views.

Part of the attraction for fans and admirers of the couple are the outfits that they do their crime-fighting work in. But it's not a latex fetish that makes them squeeze into those tight suits.

According to Purple Reign, the body areas of the outfit are "slash resistant" and come in a D30 material which "turns hard upon impact." They also wear arm guards, bullet-proof vests and protective gloves when they are out on patrol.

So do they think that 'real-life superheroes' are needed in the UK?

"They are needed everywhere," Phoenix Jones says. "Any time you see something wrong, you need someone to stand up and say that is wrong."

But he points out that people need to be willing to abide by the law and if someone thinks that they can't do that, then being a 'superhero' isn't for them.

Real Life Superheroes, Phoenix Jones and Purple Reign, are in the UK to launch the world's fastest smartphone – Huawei Ascend P2 – at the Huawei Superpowers Symposium taking place in London.